Cranberry Orange Baked Oatmeal

The festive season is upon us and with it, a myriad of shared meals. We usually host a raucous holiday potluck for our fellow expat friends, but since several of us have had babies recently, we’ve switching things up and doing a holiday brunch this year.

If I’m hosting brunch, I like to make things that come together with minimal fuss and are more or less hands off. As much as I love making pancakes for a crowd, it generally means being chained to the stove and not really getting to socialize much. Might I suggest a baked oatmeal instead?

If you haven’t tried baked oatmeal before, it is amazing. Crispy on top, custardy in the middle, and studded with nuts and fruit, it’s the ultimate comforting yet still healthy breakfast offering. This version is completely vegan, made with flax eggs and almond milk, and is packed with heart-healthy oats and walnuts. It’s definitely on the lighter side, but still feels stick-to-yer-ribs indulgent. And it feeds a crowd with minimal effort.

Got leftover baked oatmeal? Try cutting it into slices and pan-frying in a bit of coconut oil, then serving with a bit of maple syrup drizzled over the top. It doesn’t get much better than that.

This looks lovely! I keep chickens so really need to use up eggs all the time. How many actual eggs do you use in place of the flax? I’d use cows milk too and assume that would just be the same quantity?

Also I’d love to make this for my 1yo- would it work with the walnuts ground up or would it be better to skip them?

Two large eggs would replace the flax eggs in this recipe, and yes, the same quantity of cow’s milk would do just fine. I think either ground walnuts or skipping them would work fine – depends if you want the flavour and omega-3’s from the walnuts or not. But you won’t lose anything recipe wise from leaving them out.

Sarah Jean

Sarah Jean

I like ensembled! I think that you could put together the dry mix and the wet mix separately, the night before, and then combine then combine them in the morning. If you put the whole thing together the night before the oats would absorb too much of the moisture and become more like an overnight oats texture, which I don’t think would bake as well.

Jane

January 4, 2017 at 8:36 am

Love it! Made it twice recently. First per recipe which was perfect, then made again last evening while preparing supper– the whole thing sat combined for about 30 min while I waited for the oven to empty. I am having it re-heated this morning and yes, the texture is drier and more like an overnight oats texture. It’s still good, but I prefer the more custardy version better.
Do you have a breakdown of nutritional info?
thanks!

Sarah T

December 21, 2016 at 1:57 pm

This looks lovely and will definitely be a part of our holiday eating. We will be five adults (two couples staying at Dad’s house!) and somehow breakfast can get to be a production. Too much activity before coffee!
One question, though – your two pan recommendations result in very different sizes! (81 sq inches vs 40 sq inches). Which would be better, do you think?
Thank you!

The only difference is in the surface area… so if you baked in a 5×7 loaf pan you’d have less crispy top and more custardy inside, and if you baked in an 9×9 square pan you’d have more crispy top. Does that make sense? I went for the loaf pan because I think it’s prettier, but I think either option is perfectly fine! You have to bake the loaf a little bit longer because it’s deeper, so keep that in mind, but we’re only talking about a few minutes.

Jodi Walzer

Hey Jodi! To be honest, I’m not sure. I think if you used the steel cut oats you’d either have to use extra liquid or soak the oatmeal overnight so they’re not too hard. If you do try it, please let us know what you did and how it turns out!